5
NEWS & VIEWS
January-February 2018
www.apb-news.com | JANUARY- FEBRUARY 2018 | VOLUME 35 | ISSUE 1
NEWS & VIEWS
6
W O R L D I N B R I E F
IPTV subscription
on the rise in SE Asia
JAKARTA – A 6% increase be-
tween July and September last
year has seen the number of
IPTV subscribers in South-east
Asia jumped to 6.7 million. Most
of this growth can be attributed
to Indonesia, reported market
research firm Dataxis.
Mobile data traffic
on upward surge
BOSTON – Mobile data traf-
fic growth reached a six-year
high in Q3 2017, increasing
115% globally year-on-year,
reported Strategy Analytics in
a new report. India and China
accounted for half of all traffic
growth globally.
News key TV genre
in India
NEW DELHI – India’s Broadcast
Audience Research Council
(BARC) has released data that
indicates ‘news’ being the third-
largest TV genre in India. While
‘general entertainment’ still
dominates, ‘news’ accounted for
8% of total viewing time.
CREATION
10
MANAGEMENT
14
DISTRIBUTION
X-PLATFORM
18
20
Broadcast developments in 2018:
Evolution, not revolution
by shawn liew
SINGAPORE – Many technologies
came to the fore in 2017, bringing
with them the promise of more
cost-effective and streamlined
broadcast processes.
As a new year dawns, many
broadcasters will continue to pon-
der which technologies to invest
in — and how best to utilise them.
This, in all probability, will ensure
that 2018 will be a year of slow
evolution, rather than revolution,
when it comes to innovation in
broadcast, said Dr Peter Siebert,
executive director, the DVB Project.
“Historically, the broadcast
industry does not assimilate new
technologies overnight, due to the
necessary investment in produc-
tion and studio equipment,” he told
APB. “Also, there has to be sufficient
receiver take-up by consumers to
Media City
Development’s Graham
Stephens: ❝ The
biggest challenge that
broadcasters face is
to stay relevant to a
generation that is now
so phone-centric. ❞
Ideal Systems’ Fintan
Mc Kiernan: ❝ The
early adopters who
have already ventured
into IP infrastructures
are planning trial
systems for 4K/UHD in
2018, and are working
out ways to achieve
this in IP, rather than
12G-SDI. ❞
The DVB Project’s
Dr Peter Siebert:
❝ Historically, the
broadcast industry
does not assimilate
new technologies
overnight, due to the
necessary investment
in production and
studio equipment. ❞
warrant the introduction of new
services.”
One highlight for DVB over
the past 18 months, Dr Siebert re-
ported, was the standardisation of
resolutions beyond HD, combined
with new advanced feature such as
high dynamic range (HDR), high
frame rate (HFR), a wider colour
space and new audio coding
schemes.
While these new technologies
have the potential to deliver audio
visual content at an optimum qual-
ity — a performance close to the
limits of the human eye — it also
means that it is unlikely that further
advancements can be realised in
the near future, he added.
Technologies such as virtual
reality (VR), augmented reality
(AR) and 5G will continue to be
demonstrated and discussed, but
at this moment in time, are they
more marketing hype than reality?
Dr Siebert asked. “5G, for instance,
requires a very expensive network,
at a time where mobile operators
are confronted with stagnant or
even falling revenues.”
8 7
Broadcasters explore VR as a key storytelling tool
by josephine tan
SINGAPORE – Virtual reality (VR) is set to
“radically change” the way media is consumed,
promising consumers an immersive experience
and interaction on a level of engagement never
imagined before, declared Doreen Neo, chief
content officer, Mediacorp.
Neo, speaking at the launch of Mediacorp
Studio’s VR Incubator Programme, said the pro-
Y
OUR
gramme aims to produce “compelling experien-
tial content for the next generation of viewers”.
Kick-started last November, the 12-month
acceleration programme is designed to provide
in-house training for Mediacorp personnel, pro-
viding them with VR knowledge, from content
creation to post production.
As part of the programme, Mediacorp is
also grooming at least 20 internal VR experts
to produce VR content within the next 12
months. At least six VR content productions
are in the pipeline, including both scripted and
live 360 events, which will be delivered across
Mediacorp’s online and social media platforms.
Neo added: “Mediacorp Studios has been
producing dramas and variety programmes
for more than three decades. Now, we want to
deliver VR content extended from our popular
intellectual properties (IPs), as well as creating
8 7
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